A number of organizations exist for the purpose of charitable and/or non-profit functions, including organizations which qualify as charitable organizations under U.S. Internal Revenue Service Regulation 501(c)(3). Not uncommonly, such organizations find that there are a number of costs associated with receiving and handling donations. One cost involves the labor or man-power costs associated with soliciting and/or receiving such donations. Many charitable organizations employ or hire individuals or organizations for the purpose of soliciting funds, attracting potential donors and the like. Because there are often costs associated with such employees or organizations (including wages, salaries or commissions and/or costs of advertising services or materials, typically a certain portion of the funds received or collected by a charitable organization, which might otherwise be available for the organizations' charitable functions, must instead be expended for costs associated with attracting or receiving donations.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus and method for donation transactions which reduces man-power requirements and/or costs associated with at least some donation transactions.
Another cost typically associated with or born by charitable organizations is the cost of handling the donated funds. In many situations, donations take the form of coins, currency, and/or negotiable instruments such as personal checks. Partially in situations where the charitable organization receives a relatively large number of donations in relatively small amounts, the costs associated with handling such coins, cash or checks, (such as costs of counting and/or rolling or packaging coins, counting cash and/or checks, and depositing these items in a financial institution) further depletes funds of the charitable organization.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus or method which reduces the cost, to charitable organizations, associated with handling and/or bank deposits for donation transactions.
Yet another cost sometimes associated with charitable transactions is the cost associated with providing receipts to donors, particularly receipts of a type that may be used by donors in calculating taxes or completing or documenting tax returns.
Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus or method which reduces the cost, to charitable organizations, associated with providing donation receipts for donation transactions.
Donors to charitable organizations are sometimes solicited for donations in situations where the donors are presented with a single choice: to donate or not to donate to a single, particular charitable organization. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide an apparatus and method in which potential donors are presented with a number of different options for the recipient of their donation.
In a number of situations, a person wishing to make a donation to a particular charitable institution is required to either be in possession of a donation form and/or an address for other information so that the donation may be transmitted to the correct recipient. Also, donors often must bear the cost of postage or telephone calls. This situation is particularly problematic for donors who may have relocated, temporally or permanently, to a location far removed from the desired charitable organization. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide a method or apparatus to permit a donor, even though in a distant geographic location, to readily donate to a desired organization without the need to know the organization's address, without the need to possess a donation form and without the need to expend funds on postage and/or telephone calls to make the donation.